Really rich Americans for prosperity

Really Rich Americans for ProsperityWe are now being bombarded by anti-government commercials sponsored bysomething called Americans for Prosperity. The idea of these spots isthat we little guys are being screwed, squeezed and destroyed bygovernment excesses. They would have you believe Americans forProsperity is some kind of grassroots organization willing to rise upand smite the evil government.In fact, Americans for Prosperity is a front group funded primarily byCharles and David Koch.The Koch brothers are not well known by design, preferring to dance inthe shadows rather than come out and play in the light. They own 84%of Koch Industries, the second largest privately held conglomerate inthe country. Koch Industries is not exactly one of the little guysabout whom they feign such concern. Their holdings include mining(Koch Minerals), oil refining equipment (Koch Engineering), oilexploration and production (Koch Petroleum Group), petroleum-basedchemicals (Koch Fertilizer and Flint Hill Resources), oil and naturalgas pipelines (Koch Pipeline), textiles and polymer-based fibers(Invista), lumbering and paper products (Georgia-Pacific), cattle andtrophy hunting (Matador Ranching Company) and their own securities andinvestment business. They have more than 70,000 employees in nearly60 countries.Together, the Koch brothers are richer than everyone in the countryexcept Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.Their disdain for regulation manifests itself in the long andimpressive list of environmental and regulatory violations andaccompanying fines levied against their various enterprises. Theirmost famous violation occurred in Lively, Texas, in the ‘90s when aleaking natural gas pipeline exploded, incinerating two men in apick-up who had the misfortune of driving into the leak.Koch Industries was started in 1940 by the late Fred Koch, who alsoco-founded the John Birch Society. The late Mr. Koch had aninteresting take on what the United States should be. Aside from hisvirulent anti-communist rants, Mr. Koch didnt much like anygovernment that either regulated his businesses or took any of hismoney in taxes. In 1980 he ran as the vice presidential candidate onthe Libertarian ticket (he founded the U.S. Libertarian Party). Amongother bits of extremism, he called for the abolition of SocialSecurity, nearly all federal regulatory agencies, the F.B.I, theC.I.A. and all public schools.His sons are apples that havent fallen far from the tree.Their Koch Family Foundation funds or has funded many of the groupsnow denying climate change science (theyve funneled almost $50million to these groups since 1997), groups attempting to debunk thedangers of second-hand smoke, much of the so-called tea partymovement, the Cato Institute, the Republican Governors Conference andmany libertarian causes. Theyve spent almost $40 million lobbyingfor the fossil fuels industry in the last dozen years.But its Americans for Prosperity that keeps cropping up on ourtelevision sets with its forlorn small business owner wondering howshes going to tell her employees theyre going to be laid off becauseshe has to provide them health insurance.(Ironically, despite spending additional millions attempting to defeatthe healthcare reform legislation, they were among the first companiesto apply for federal money to supplement healthcare costs for workersover 55 not yet eligible for Medicare.)To be fair, the Brothers Koch are entitled to their inheritance fromdaddy, are entitled to their far-flung business enterprises and areentitled to their political perspectives. None of it is illegal.The problem is the deception of their political activity, couchingtheir true intent behind populist front groups. We are entitled toknow they are the money behind Americans for Prosperity and theirefforts have nothing to do with protecting small or medium-sizedbusinesses. Its a charade.The Koch brothers do not travel this road alone. Rupert Murdoch, whoowns the Fox television networks among his far-flung holdings, is akindred spirit to the Kochs. But Murdoch at least lets us know whathes financing so we can make an honest judgment about the efficacy ofhis efforts. On the liberal side, George Soros has been more thangenerous with his checkbook. But Soros can hardly be pulled out ofthe spotlight so eager is he to take credit for his largesse.The Koch brothers are in a class by themselves when it comes tofinancing their political proclivities while hiding in the darkness.There is no law, of course, preventing them from camouflaging theirefforts in the name of anything. But we view their efforts throughmore jaundiced eyes when we know Americans for Prosperity is not alegitimate grassroots effort aimed at helping Ms. Small Business Ownerbut an attempt by extraordinarily rich, huge business owners to makethe government butt out of their massive corporate enterprises and letthem make their billions without paying those annoying taxes.It is not unreasonable for us to ask the Koch brothers to be up frontabout their real intentions. Just tell us the truth about who you areand what you want. If youre convinced yours is the right path forAmerica then dont hide behind the sham of cutely named front groupsthat have almost nothing to do with your real intent. Step up, stepout and lets have the debate in the daylight.